


The Visit

by blackjacktheboss



Series: mob au [3]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-08
Updated: 2019-12-08
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:22:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21712945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackjacktheboss/pseuds/blackjacktheboss
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson
Series: mob au [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1102638
Comments: 7
Kudos: 320





	The Visit

It’s a perfect Sunday morning by the pool, and Annabeth can’t help but be mesmerized by the shine of her engagement ring. It twinkles with a shade of blue she’s only seen before in Caribbean waters and she thinks the pool should be ashamed for even trying to keep up. 

She sits at a table covered in a gorgeous breakfast spread with the local paper in hand as her fiancé swims his usual laps in the background, her ring distracting her from the article on changes to downtown parking meters. 

Percy pops out of the pool, his trunks hanging low on his hips, as he begins to dry himself off with his favorite shark towel and Annabeth catches herself biting her bottom lip while watching him. Charles clears his throat as he holds up a cell phone and Annabeth shakes her head to clear it of her impure thoughts. 

“It’s the warden,” Charles says, handing her the phone. 

Her mood changes and her eyes narrow as she takes the phone and brings it up to her ear. 

“Warden Kampe, to what do I owe this pleasure?” 

Percy pops a few blueberries in his mouth as he raises his eyebrows at Annabeth and mouths “you ok?” Annabeth forces a smile and winks at him, making him relax a bit as he takes a sip of orange juice and sits across from his love. 

“I can be there in twenty minutes, warden.”

Annabeth stands, guilt washing over her face. “I’m sorry, baby, I have to-’” 

“Work,” Percy finishes for her. “I have some photos to edit anyway.” He stands to meet her and wraps an arm around her waist, placing a playful kiss to her lips. “I’ll be here waiting for you when you’re done.” 

Annabeth smiles against Percy’s mouth and kisses him back, her fingers curling into the hair at the back of his head. “I won’t be too long, I promise.” 

She walks into the house and changes into her standard grey blouse and black pencil skirt, accompanied by her favorite pair of black heels. Gathering her curls up into a high ponytail, she watches as a couple of stray curls fall to frame her face. Lastly, she applies a dark shade of red lipstick, which her mother had always said was a woman’s greatest ally in their line of business. _Lipstick sends a message,_ she had told Annabeth one night while braiding her hair. _It draws men’s eyes and keeps them distracted, leaving you all the time in the world to do what needs to be done._

As she steps outside with all of her armor on, she finds Charles waiting with the car door open, his face serious as if he’s anticipating some big show down. Annabeth pats him on the arm as she passes him. 

“Don’t look so glum, Charles. This is gonna be fun.” 

Charles shakes his head as he closes the door after her. “Poor son of a bitch,” he laughs to himself. 

* * *

Two men sit across from each other, divided by a pane of glass in the empty visitation hall of a prison. From the outside, they appear to be mirror images of each other: blonde hair, blue eyes, serious faces that betray little to no emotion. 

One wears a set of dark gray scrubs with “Property of Olympia County Prison System” printed across the back, his face marred by a scar that runs down its left side. He sits still, his hands in his lap, and studies his counterpart who wears a dark purple Henley and black jeans, with bags under his blood-shot eyes from who knows how many sleepless nights. The second man’s leg bounces nervously as his hands sit folded on the counter in front of him, twiddling his thumbs.

After several moments, the man in purple slowly reaches for the black phone to his right and the man on the other side does the same, two sides of the same coin. 

“Hi, Luke,” the man in purple says. 

“Rookie,” Luke replies. “Or would you prefer I call you Detective Grace?”

“Jason’s fine.” 

“Think I’ll stick with Rookie then, if it’s all the same to you,” Luke shoots back. 

Jason’s jaw tenses. “Fine. But I’m not the same rookie you knew all those years ago, Luke.” 

“I know all about you, _Rook_ ,” Luke says sharply with a devious smile. “And I know that whatever you’re here for isn’t gonna lead to any good. So take your boyishly charming good looks, go home, and pretend you’ve never heard of me.” 

Jason shakes his head. “I can’t do that. You know that that’s not me.” 

“It has to be. Because if you keep going down this path, the only way this ends is with you in here with me or in the ground.”

Jason runs his hand through his hair and pauses for a moment. “I’m willing to risk that.” 

“You shouldn’t be,” Luke spits back. 

“Speaking from experience?” Jason asks pointedly. 

Luke scowls. “Speaking from a jail cell, you self-righteous idiot. You have no clue what you’re putting yourself in the middle of.” 

“The only thing I’m in the middle of is bringing down Annabeth Chase,” Jason says as calmly as he can. 

Luke’s eyes become panicked and his voice harsh. “You can’t just throw names around like that, kid. They hold weight. And mentioning the wrong one can ruin your whole life.” 

Jason leans in, pulling the phone’s mouthpiece closer to his face. “If it’s retribution you’re afraid of, I have friends, Luke. I can make calls, I can make sure you’re protected.” 

Luke clenches his jaw and his nostrils flare. “You’ve got no play here, Rook. You’re kidding yourself if you think you do.” 

“I’m offering you a chance to do the right thing here, man,” Jason says, slamming his fist on the counter. “Help me bring her down and then we can both move on. Or at least have the chance to.” 

Luke looks away, and Jason can see his jawline tremble. “You really don’t get it, kid,” he says, his voice suddenly weak. 

“Please, I’m— I’m asking for your help, Luke. From one cop to another. I just wanna do the right thing.” 

“I’m not a cop anymore.”

“Once a cop, always a cop. You taught me that.” 

Luke shakes his head and lets out an exasperated laugh, still avoiding Jason’s eyes. “Yeah, well... I’m sure I said a lot of things.” 

“Yeah, you did,” Jason confirms. “And a lot of them were about honor and service and justice. That’s all I’m looking for here.” 

“No, Rook, what you’re looking for is your white whale. And I get it, ok? I really do. But your vision is so focused in on her that you’re missing the big picture.” 

“And what’s that?” Jason snarks. 

Luke finally looks back at Jason. “That she’s not the villain you think she is.”

Jason shakes his head in disbelief. 

“You think this town was always so… liveable? Do you think all of those beautiful buildings and perfectly paved roads, and a highly ranked school district happened on their own? This town that you’re so hellbent on protecting was built by the very people you’re so convinced are ruining it. And if you don’t back off, you’re gonna learn the hard way just how many friends they actually have. I guarantee it outranks your friend list in every way.” 

Jason swallows hard, processing Luke’s words, and a guard steps into view behind Luke, placing a hand on the man’s shoulder. 

“Time’s up, Rook,” Luke says, his body suddenly betraying his exhaustion. 

Jason looks up in desperation as Luke begins to stand. “I’ll just keep coming back until you tell me what I want to know!” 

Luke smiles weakly. “I don’t think that’ll be allowed, Rookie, but it was good to see you. Be sure to tell your sister I say hi.” 

“Luke, wait!” Jason shouts, causing Luke to pause in the middle of hanging up the phone. 

The older man puts it back to his ear. “What?” 

“What’s the big picture?” Jason asks, the gnaw of a mystery to be solved tugging at his gut. “What am I missing?” 

Luke smiles. “You’re the youngest kid to ever become a detective in this town’s history. You’ll figure it out. Just remember the basics of police work.” 

Jason nods solemnly as his mind is already at work trying to understand Luke’s clues. 

“Take care of yourself, Rook. It’s a big, bad world out there.” 

“You’re the one in prison, Luke.” 

Luke shrugs. “This place? This is nothing. I’m _very_ well taken care of in here.” 

And with a final wink, Luke hangs his phone up and Jason watches his figure retreat back into the darkness of the prison’s halls. 

He takes a deep breath to steady himself as he hangs up the phone, his brain working to sort and analyze every word that came out of Luke’s mouth. It picks apart and puts back together the conversation, both verbal and non verbal, over and over again, hoping to make the pieces of the puzzle fit into a narrative that makes sense. 

Jason is checking his gun and keys back out, and doesn’t miss the nervous looks the on-duty officer keeps giving him. He is overcome with an eerie feeling and looks up to find himself looking into a security camera pointed directly at him. 

“Nice camera,” Jason comments while still looking into the lens. 

The guard shifts uncomfortably. “Just got em last year. Full system upgrade.” 

Jason looks at the guard and gives a half-hearted smile. “Tax dollars at work is really something, huh?” 

The guard swallows. “Something, alright.” 

A door behind the guard opens, and a tall woman with black hair pulled into a tight bun and piercing dark brown eyes emerges. She is in business clothes which are a stark contrast from the tan and brown uniform the guard wears. Jason figures she must be management. 

“I heard we had one of the city’s finest cops here today,” the woman said, stepping up to the counter. “Had to come meet you for myself.” 

“Jason Grace,” he says offering his hand. 

She takes it, and gives a firm shake. “Warden Kampe, nice to meet you. Which one of my guests did you come to see today?” 

Jason watches the warden carefully. Her tone is innocent enough, but there’s something in her eyes… 

“Luke Castellan,” he says carefully. 

“Ah,” the warden says, as if she had already known the answer. “The traitor. What business could you have with a disgraced and dirty cop?” 

“We have history,” is all he offers. 

The warden looks Jason up and down, and he can feel her evaluating him; assessing his threat level. “I see. Well you’re the first visitor he’s had since he’s been here, so you can imagine my surprise.” 

Jason nods politely, not wanting to call out the warden’s obvious lie. Access to Luke is what he needs, and offending the warden won’t do him any favors. 

“I’ll be back next week to see him again, if that’s alright,” he says, not really asking. 

“I’m afraid that won’t be possible,” the warden says, crossing her arms across her chest as the energy of the exchange shifts. “I’m afraid his visitation privileges have been revoked.” 

“What, why?” Jason asks, stunned. 

The warden stands tall. “Because.” 

“Until when?” Jason asks, incredulous. 

The warden shrugs dismissively. “Until whenever.” 

Before he can respond, the warden’s eyeline shifts to something just past Jason’s head. He turns, following her gaze, and sees something that makes his stomach drop. 

* * *

The sun’s brightness stings Jason’s eyes as he steps out of the cave-like prison lighting. He raises a hand to shield himself from the harsh rays, and sees Annabeth Chase leaning against her black SUV, flanked by her bodyguard Charles who is wearing a dark suit. 

Jason takes a deep breath and drops his hand, walking towards his nemesis with all the confidence he can muster. 

As he gets close, Annabeth smiles and removes her sunglasses. “Fancy seeing you here, detective.” 

Jason stops ten feet from her and crosses his arms. “What do you want, Ms. Chase?” 

“Oh nothing much,” she says, her voice playful. “Just heard you were up here and thought I’d come say hi.” 

“How about we cut the shit?” he says angrily. 

“Aren’t we feeling testy today,” she teases. She takes a big step towards him, looking down at her feet and aligning them with Jason’s so they stand face to face. 

Jason huffs in frustration and Charles takes a step forward but Annabeth waves him off. 

“We’re fine, Charles. Would you please wait in the car?” 

Annabeth doesn’t break eye contact with Jason as she asks, and they stand in silence as Charles grumbles but acquiesces, climbing into the car’s driver seat. 

“Let’s cut the shit, then, detective. It’s actually cute how often you think you’re ahead of me when in reality... you’re tragically behind.” 

Jason clenches his fist, doing his best to remain in control of the hurricane of emotions raging in his chest. “So you just showed up to mock me? Seems a little below your pay grade.” 

“Actually,” she says, pausing to consider her manicure, “I came here to give you another chance to walk away from all of this.” 

“Is that so?” Jason asks with a head tilt. “Cause it seems to me that if I’m so tragically behind, you wouldn’t be so eager to come here to try and get me off your back.” 

“Feeling rather confident all of a sudden, are we?” 

Jason smirks, a wave of confidence indeed washing over him. “I’m close to something.” 

Annabeth smiles patronizingly. “The only thing you’re close to is an early retirement.” 

“Is that a threat, Ms. Chase?” 

“It’s a warning, detective. Or rather… a professional courtesy,” she says with a shrug. “Because despite what you believe about me, I actually have a lot of respect for you.” 

Jason scans her face for tells, wanting any clue to what game she’s trying to run on him, but he finds nothing. 

Annabeth continues. “You’re close to _something_ , but it’s not me. And the people on the other side of the door you’re scratching at don’t play as nicely as I do.” 

“This is you playing nice?” he asks sarcastically. 

“You’re alive, aren’t you?” she says earnestly. 

“Aren’t you at least gonna ask what he told me?” Jason says, doing his best impression of someone with all the answers. “You must be a little curious.” 

Annabeth doesn’t flinch. “Don’t have to. I know he didn’t tell you a damn thing.” 

“Now who’s feeling confident?” 

She smirks. “Only the appropriate amount, detective. Now why don’t you do yourself a favor and go home to get some sleep? You’ve had some awfully long nights at the precinct as of late and it’s starting to show. Very unbecoming.” 

Jason’s body tenses and Annabeth has a smug look on her face that only makes Jason want to knock her down a peg even more than before. 

“Something Luke _did_ tell me was that you’re not the villain I think you are, but you know what? He’s wrong. And I’m gonna prove it.” 

Annabeth’s smug smile melts away and is replaced by annoyance. 

“Luke was never very good at seeing things for what they are. It’s a big part of why he’s here, but you’re not like him, are you Jason? No. You’re the type who catches a scent and will drive himself to the grave tracking it down.” 

Jason clenches his jaw and looks off to the side, as if watching his confidence float away in the breeze. 

“Just an observation, detective. I thought you might appreciate it. And here’s another: you’ve been letting your personal feelings about me cloud your better judgement and it’s getting in the way of you seeing the full scope of what’s happening around you. Which I would imagine is another thing Luke told you. So for the last time, Detective Grace, stop chasing your own damn tail before you barrel into the unpleasant truth.” 

“First off, stop comparing me to a dog. And secondly, what truth, _exactly_ , am I barreling towards?” 

Annabeth smiles. “That I can be a villain and the person who is making sure you keep breathing all at the same time.” 

Jason closes his eyes and shakes his head, his mind unable to reconcile what he knows about Annabeth with what she’s implying.

“Are you— are you saying you’ve been protecting me?”

Annabeth slips her sunglasses back on and Charles reappears behind her, opening the car door. “What I’m saying is clean cops in this city don’t come without a price and while you’re busy finding a way to send me to prison, you might also want to consider who has been paying your toll.”

With that, Annabeth dismisses Jason, turning her back on him and climbing into her car. 

Jason watches her drive away, an echo of their first encounter so many years ago that has carried through time, and Luke’s advice finally clicks. 

_The basics of police work._

He digs into his pants pocket and pulls out his phone to make a call. It only rings once before the person on the other end picks up. 

“Reyna, hey. Can you meet me at the library in twenty?... Great… What does anyone do at a library?” The corner of his mouth turns up into a self-satisfied smile. “Research.”


End file.
